Frank was born on the 6th of December 1916 in New Plymouth, living there until he transferred to Hawera, Taranaki in 1937, to work with Hannahs Shoe Company. He attended Central Primary School then New Plymouth Boys High School. Like many of Frank’s generation, he remembers the struggles for families growing-up in Depression years, and how many missed-out on high schooling because their parents couldn’t afford to send them.

“It was quite a pricey-effort for our parents to send us to High School in those days cause it the Depression days. Unemployment. My father was employed all the time, so I was lucky.”

Frank grew-up at a very different time; when patriotism, discipline and military-ethos were far more at the forefront of everyday life in New Zealand than they are today:

“In New Plymouth Boys High School, that’s where we first learnt our military training because they had military training at school… They were allowed to hit you if you didn’t do what you were told… ‘bring your tennis shoe over here, bend over, bang’! “

“We learnt to shoot – we used to go out on the rifle range here in New Plymouth. We learnt the military drill. It was good. And we learnt military discipline. We used to march on ANZAC Day in the parades. You used to have to have a doctor’s certificate to say you couldn’t do it (if you wanted to be excused) We’d go down to the drill hall in New Plymouth. They had a rifle range inside the building with big wooden blocks behind the target so the bullets couldn’t go through. They used to give us .22 (calibre) bullets, and we used to practice.”

“It stood us in good stead (later during the war) when we did go into the Army. I won the under-15 shooting championship… I wasn’t a bad sort of a shot in those days. When I got to Egypt (during the war), they had a competition – the whole Brigade – several thousand men, and I got fourth equal in that – in the ‘double-snap’ (event). You had to get two shots off in ten seconds at 200 yards.”

After leaving school, Frank worked in the grocer’s/fruit shop before taking a job at Hannahs. He volunteered soon after war broke out, and went into camp initially at Trentham camp near Wellington. After 7-8 weeks there Frank and the men were taken up to Waiouru camp for exercises. It was the early days of Waiouru camp, with very few amenities built.

“There was nothing – just a few shower boxes, and that’s all. We were all in tents. Also, we were only there about a week, then they took us back to Trentham, and we went on final leave. A lot of the instructors were Regular Army blokes, and all their theory was based on First World War methods – which were totally inadequate really for the Second World War, but they didn’t know how the Second World War was going to evolve – the tactics etc. Because it (WWII) was far more mobile than the First World War, stuck in trenches. That had gone. The Second World War was one of movement. It was discipline and field craft (we learnt).”

“A lot of blokes, I wouldn’t say everyone, but the majority had gone to high school and had done a bit of military discipline. They could march, and they could shoot. It made a big difference. You knew jolly-well you had to learn whatever they could teach you – to use machine-guns, to use a rifle – most could use a rifle because we’d been to high school or Territorials, and could shoot. But none of us had fired machine guns before. We had to learn those.”

“And then we got the Tommy guns before we went to Greece. They were alright if you were in close-quarters, but they were no good for long distance shooting. You soon mastered everything. You had a go at everything. They had different sections. In each (infantry) battalion, you had the ordinary infantry, but then you had a mortar platoon – 3-inch mortars. They’d support you (infantry). The ordinary infantry (role) wasn’t hard to learn.”

“All our equipment was antiquated compared to what the Germans had. When we first went away, we still had First World War uniforms. One or two (men) packed-up physically. They couldn’t stand the pace. When we got to Egypt, some were sent back home. Not many, because the average bloke was pretty fit. When we got our inoculations, before went overseas, my arm was that sore that I went to bed that night, and on the floor next to me – we slept feet towards the centre-pole of the tent – big Jim Coole. He’s just come from the All Black training squad, straight into camp. Big 16-stone lock (forward) – he was next to me – he went to the canteen and got a skin-full of beer. We had six blankets each, and he came back and picked up his 6 to make the bed up, and he dumps them right on top of me where I’d had the injections. Little things like that happened. Jim. He was that strong, in Greece, he carried a 1,000-round box of ammunition on his shoulder up the side of the mountain.. he said, ‘I thought you jokers might be a bit short of ammo’.”

After further training at Trentham, then a week’s final leave, Frank sailed aboard the Strathaird ship from Wellington.

“I was lucky. Some of the chaps were in hammocks below in the hold. I was in a two-berth cabin. I was only a private! The officers and nurses were all up on the top decks. You had physical training, exercises etc. You might have to march around the deck 30 or 40 times, and all that sort of stuff, to try and keep fit. You couldn’t wear your Army (hobnail) boots; you had to have your tennis (gym) shoes on. We got ashore in Perth, Western Australia for one or two night. They paid us all in Australian pounds. Of course, as soon as you all hit the first pub, they skimmed all the change out – the banks were all closed because it was early evening. So they couldn’t give you any change, and so they closed the bar in the finish. They wouldn’t sell you any beer. That was in Fremantle, so we went up to Perth, and there was a bit more change around up there.”

After stopovers in Ceylon and Aden, the men reached Tufik and encamped at Maadi near Cairo, Egypt. After a period of training and acclimatising, as well as waiting for the 2nd Echelon who had been diverted to the UK, to arrive, Frank and the men sailed for Greece.

After the Division’s retreat and evacuation from there, Frank found himself on the island of Crete – based around the Galatas sector. He was one of the lucky ones there too, being evacuated with some of his units to the Middle East. As it did for many Kiwis, Frank’s luck finally ran out during the early battles of the Crusader campaign. He was captured when the British armour failed to show up as scheduled, leaving the infantrymen hopelessly exposed to a powerful force of German tanks.

“We went in on a night attack. We went seven miles through the enemy lines. They said the tanks would be up and support you at daylight. Well, the tanks never came up, and Gerry (the Germans) waited to see if it was a trap. And when he could see it wasn’t a trap, he just brought his tanks in. Well, we had no show against the tanks just with rifles. Not a show! Rifles and machine guns are no good against tanks. So our officers surrendered us. One of them had a white towel in his bag, and he waved it and surrendered the whole lot.”

“It was awful. I was absolutely flabbergasted. We sort of did not realise what had happened until your brain started to function again – it was a total shock. Because you knew you’d been sold down the track by the (British) ‘tankies’ you see. You held a grudge against the tankies for a long time. Afterwards, though, you realised that is what ‘Gerry’ wanted – to suck in those tanks and destroy them, then he had us you see. But there was a fair bit of friction there between the New Zealanders and the British there for a while. However, it did not affect the whole (desert) war – they knew they dare not risk the jolly tanks. Because they (Allies) weren’t ready to fight the tanks. Not until Alamein. The Germans had better tanks; they had bigger tanks. And they had what they called the ‘half-tracks’ which were tracks on the back of the vehicle, and wheels on the front. And they could go a hell of a lot faster than the tanks. And they had better tanks guns than us – they had the .88 (mm gun). That was far better than anything we had.”

Frank went into captivity as a POW, being handed to the Italians, who interned the men in the infamous POW camp at Benghazi before transporting them to Italy by ship, then into POW camps there. After the Italian surrender, Frank was taken into German captivity and transported by cattle wagon to a POW camp in Germany. He was liberated at the end of the war, returning to NZ.Frank retired in New Plymouth.

(With thanks to Frank’s family for assistance with this story)

Recently Added Veterans

Sketch of Frank May by Jimmy O Hall. This sketch was done while on manoeuvres "Up The Desert".
Frank May Collection

Date: 10 October 1941
Ref: DA-02095-F
New Zealand infantry training, Egypt, 10 October 1941. Photographer unidentified.
Note on back of file print reads "The thin line goes forward in spite of the counter measures at the "enemy" artillery. Egypt"

Date: 1941
Ref: DA-01305-F
Axis destroyers laying at anchor at Piraeus in readiness for the invasion of Crete. Taken in 1941 by an unidentified photographer.

Date: [1941]
Ref: DA-01092-F
Soldiers enjoy shower at Amariya transit camp after NZ troop evacuation from Crete. Taken 1941 by an official photographer.

Date: ca 22 Jan 1943
Ref: DA-02839-F
Open desert in the Sirte area, Libya, during World War 2, showing an enemy mortar exploding in front of advancing New Zealand soldiers who are crawling on their stomachs. Photograph taken circa 22 January 1943 by an unidentified official photographer.

Date: 10 Feb 1942
Ref: DA-02372B-F
Troops during bayonet training at NZ Infantry Training Depot at Maadi Camp in Egypt, World War II. Taken on 10 February 1942 by a British official photographer.

From the Frank May Collection

Date: 1939-1945
Ref: DA-01937-F
Soldiers of the Maori Battalion on a practice manoeuvre in Egypt during the Second World War. They are depicted leaping over barbed wire entanglement with their rifles

Date: 1 Feb 1942
Ref: DA-02368B-F
NZ troops training at NZ Base Camp in assault with the bayonet during World War II. Taken at Maadi, Egypt, on 1 February 1942 by an official photographer.

Date: 30 August 1943 By: Bull, George Robert, 1910-1996
Ref: DA-08609
Military camp at Maadi, Egypt, during World War II. Shows the yards and workshops. Photograph taken by G Bull on the 30th of August 1943.

Date: [ca 22 Dec 1943] By: Bull, George Robert, 1910-1996
Ref: DA-04788-F
The electrical shop of the NZ Electrical and Mechanical Engineers at Maadi Camp in Egypt, during World War II. Photograph taken circa 22 December 1943 by George Robert Bull.

Date: 1940
Ref: DA-00530-F
General view of Maadi military camp laundry in Egypt. Laundry is collected from troops twice weekly. There is no charge for the service, which is carried out by local labour. Washing is done on bench (on R), dried on lines (L rear) and ironing and resorting of clean washing takes place in huts. Taken in 1940 by an official photographer.

Date: [ca 23 Dec 1943] By: Bull, George Robert, 1910-1996
Ref: DA-04798-F
Local Egyptian attending to the diesel engine used for generating power for Maadi Camp in Egypt, during World War II. Photograph taken circa 23 December 1943 by George Robert Bull.
Other - Original caption: Native attending to the diesel engine used for generating power for Maadi Camp

Date: 1941
Ref: DA-01328-F
Transport entering Suda Bay, Crete, with NZ troops evacuated from Greece. Taken circa May 1941 by an official photographer.

Date: during World War 2
Ref: DA-12651-F
Mountain troop companies moving up for attack
This is a copy of an image in the book Gebirgsjager auf Kreta - Mountain Troops on Crete, by Major Flecker, prepared by Sepp Dobiasch, published by Wilhelm Limpert-Verlag, Berlin. Page 180. (Title information from back of file print DA-12643)

Date: between 1939-1945 By: Miller, R T, active 1941
Ref: DA-01108
Dead German paratrooper in Crete during World War II. Photograph taken by R T Miller.
Note on back of file print reads: "Remains of German paratrooper who set fire to hospital maquee [at the Galatas British General Hospital], and was shot by NZ's while attempting to escape."

Date: 1941
Ref: DA-01932-F
General view of Canea Bay where New Zealand troops camped on Crete during World War II. Taken in 1941 by an official photographer.

Date: Sep 1943
Ref: DA-02894B-F
Official captured film showing Brigadier George Herbert Clifton (left), after being taken as a prisoner of war, seen with General Erwin Rommel (2nd from right) and other German personnel in Egypt during World War II. Taken in September 1943 by an unidentified photographer.
Film for this image taken from a German paratrooper killed on Crete

Date: 1943
Ref: DA-03225-F
This photograph brought back from Germany by a repatriated POW shows the daily food ration issued to each prisoner. It consists of three small potatoes, a small portion of watery soup, a fifth of a loaf of black bread and a spoonful of jam and margarine. The manacles shown were worn for some time by prisoners in this camp. Taken in Germany in 1943 by Corporal F A Watt.

Date: ca 1940
Ref: 1/2-047772-G
Groups of soldiers lined up beside gun carriages and covered trucks. Mount Ruapehu can be seen in the distance across the plateau. Photographed by Sydney Charles Smith in about 1940
Waiouru Military Camp opened 1938/1939

CONTACT

35 Pegasus Place
Palmerston North 4414
New Zealand
+64 27 357 9944

Images

Images where not specified are from the National Library Collection New Zealand. Department of Internal Affairs. War History Branch :Photographs relating to World War 1914-1918, World War 1939-1945, occupation of Japan, Korean War, and Malayan Emergency. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand